"It went great," he said, smiling from a combination of having enjoyed the experience and not having to lie again. "Your world is amazing. I've been to a lot of different worlds before, but there's nothing like studying a world where magic has always been a part of its culture. I-I just wish my own world had been like that, too."

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Bo and Mickey looked at each other with little smiles, and then looked at Maahes.

"I'm really sorry your world wasn't like that," Bo said, giving Leo a little pat on the shoulder. "It looks like you've got pretty cool magic. And I've only seen a little bit of it so far. That's definitely something to be celebrated!"

"Thanks," he said, his mind flickering back to his days in Vuphia. He had to continue giving the narrative that he had never encountered a world that understood him; it was true, if he focused only on recent history. But if he went back to those days he spent among the Alterans, he had come as close as he ever had to it. There were none like him there, and Odris never fully understood him. But, for a brief part of his life, he had been accepted - with a few exceptions, since he had been a kid and hadn't been able to properly convey his thoughts on things - and it made that old life almost enviable.

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

"Would you ever want to practice your magic? Or just play around? I don't know how proficient you are of if it's something that is difficult for you, or if it just comes naturally," Bo offered. "We have a training grounds if you'd want to take a look after mealtime!"

His eyes lit up at the mention of being able to use his magic freely, only for him to hesitate moments later when he realized he wasn't sure where he was supposed to draw the line. He wasn't human, and he wasn't from this world. His magic was likely vastly different than what they were used to. From the little he had seen, Bo could only do so much. Meanwhile, his abilities were far more varied, though he'd never want to use them on any he didn't absolutely abhor.

"I'd like that," he said. He could cross that road when he got there. For now, he just had to focus on putting some food in his essence.

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

"Uh," he said, scrambling to come up with some sort of an answer that would both satisfy Bo's question and not make him out to be a liar when he inevitably forgot what he responded with an accidentally used some ability he hadn't mentioned. "I can do a lot of stuff."

A pause. No, that wouldn't be enough. He needed to say more, or else Bo was just going to ask him a more specific question that he probably wouldn't be able to answer. His mind jumped from topic to topic, from memory to memory, from book to book - everything that he had learned about his kind from his time with Odris.

"Fire and air," he suddenly said. That was the answer he needed. He was a djinni. A spirit of fire and air; those were the elements that coursed through his essence while he was away from the Other Place. "I can do a lot with that."

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

He stiffened even more at Mickey's question. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," he said. He was trying his best not to panic, but he could already feel the goosebumps appearing on his arms. He was absolutely terrified of being discovered. Had it just been a slip of the tongue, or had Mickey somehow figured it out? How had he figured it out, if he had?

"I'm human," he continued. "I'm the only one like me that I've ever met in my travels. How can I-How can I possibly know what magic other people like me would have?"

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Bo looked at Mickey, admittedly a little confused as to what he was doing, so he stayed silent.

Mickey simply smiled - a genuine, warm smile, lacking any malice. He proceeded to speak calmly. "There is nothing wrong if you are not human. Many of us here are not human, and I wouldn't assume someone from outside our world to be human. Humanity is no standard for being a person. That's what feelings, emotions, thoughts, and brain functions are for. A person is a person, no matter the shape or the magic. I apologize if my prying alarms you, as I assume you've spent a large portion of your life in hiding or assuming the guise of another. Many of us here feel a similar, though likely very different kind of pressure to fit a certain mold out in society."

"All I want to do," he continued. "Is give you the freedom to be yourself, should you take it. If you are uncomfortable doing so, by all means, do what makes you feel most at home. But I do not want you to feel trapped. In a foreign land with foreign people, there are enough unknown things to shake you. I just don't want you to feel constrained in the midst of all of that. I assure you, everyone here is very open-minded, and if they are not, I will give them a stern talking to. You should not feel ashamed for what you are. And -" he closed his eyes briefly, letting out a sigh. "I'm sure you're wondering how I was able to discern your difference. I hope it is not as invasive or intimidating as you might assume. But-" he drew a rock out of the wall, causing in to float in front of him. He began to make it stretch and squish into different shapes, floating above his palm as he wiggled his fingers in different movements. "-it has to do with my magic. I am very connected to the earth. And in a way, I can see through it, and anything that touches it. I can... sense when things are different. When someone is lying, perchance, because of an increase in body temperature, heart rate. Things like that. But when I tried to determine such things with you, only as a precaution because it is my responsibility to keep all of the people I am in charge of here safe, I noticed something very different. And that is okay. I just wanted to... address the proverbial elephant in the room. Because I had a feeling that it would come up eventually anyway."

It was one thing to guess that someone had figured out his secret; it was another for that guess to confirmed. He had spent thousands upon thousands of years pretending to be something he wasn't. And even if Mickey said he was accepting, and said that he could tell that he was different, he didn't know how different he was. He didn't know how much just standing here, using a guise that didn't resemble his true appearance in the slightest, could hurt. He didn't know what he really looked like; he was the type of thing that someone would call a monster. He had been called one, years ago, though he had eventually been trusted because at least he wasn't one of the Goa'uld.

Maahes took a step back. He was scared. Startled. Worried. He didn't know how to handle someone knowing the truth, and them knowing the truth without him having been the one to share it. It had been different with Annie; she had known that she was summoning something, and that the something wasn't going to be normal. But with Mickey and Bo? This was completely different. He hadn't shared the information. He hadn't even expected to be found out. He never was. He had become so good at pretending to be a human that some of the actions he had done to fake it had become instinctive responses to different situations - his eyes would get moist when upset, and his arms would get covered in goosebumps when he was scared. His face would flush red when he was embarrassed. He was so good at pretending to be a human, so why had he so easily been discovered?

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Mickey realized that being so forward had scared Leo. He had expected as much. Bo was still somewhat confused but looked on with a compassionate concern.

"Woah, it's - we're not gonna hurt you," Bo said softly.

"I'm sorry if you feel... outed. Or attacked." Mickey added. "I know if it's been such a long-kept secret, it's completely reasonable to be afraid. I know having the uh-" he made a gesture with his hands. "-sheet pulled off of what's underneath suddenly when you've been hiding under it for so long can be alarming. Bringing truths to the light is never easy, and I'm aware that this might not be the gentlest way to do so, and for that, I do apologize. If it would make you more comfortable, you and I could talk openly alone, even up above if you'd like. Bo can take care of matters down here in my absence. And if you wish, he'll keep his mouth shut about it until you and I come to a resolution. For if you were to wish it, I wouldn't expose your secret to the others. It could just stay between us, if you so desire. But I do want to talk. Which I hope you are open to. I cannot force you to, of course, and if you choose not to, we will not kick you out. We will still gladly be your host. But I do hope, if only for your own peace of mind, that we can talk some. Because tension like this - though you may have grown accustomed to it - it is not healthy, dear Leo, as I'm sure you are aware. So I want to give you the opportunity to be... whatever you need to be."

"Leo's not...Leo's not my real name," he said. He still was having trouble grasping the idea of his true nature being discovered, but to have that be known and still be called Leo just felt wrong. "My real name is Maahes."

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

His essence twisted and churned. If they had been spacefaring, or even had just been from Earth, that name would have meant so much more than it did. But to them, he was just a lost little mage. They didn't know the acts that he had committed during his time as Ra. They didn't know how he had sullied his true name by using it as the core of his false Goa'uld identity. No one was ever supposed to say that "Maahes" was a beautiful name.

"I'm not-I'm not like other people," Maahes said. His essence continued to twist and churn, and he could feel his eyes stinging as they began to grow moist with tears that couldn't fall. "I'm different. It's not that-It's not just that I'm not human. I'm nothing like either one of you. I'm nothing like anyone here, and I'm nothing like anyone I'll ever meet. I don't even look like this."

He gestured down at himself.

"When people see what I really look like - when they see what I really am - they're always scared. You'd be, too, and that won't change just because you're used to people who aren't normal."

He took another step back. He wanted to run away from this conversation, but he realized with horror that the only entrance/exit he knew of was the one that Mickey was in control of. And then another horrifying realization hit him: he was underneath the earth, smack dab in the middle of one of the things that spirits like him weren't supposed to stand. He hadn't thought of it before, but now it felt like the walls were closing in on him - Altera, he was so, so, so stupid!

“You cannot get through a single daywithout having an impact onthe world around you.

What you do makes a difference,and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”